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The good people at Think Progress have a powerful post this morning about our misguided national priorities that features the following rather amazing graphic. As you can see, we spend more on Christmas decorations and flowers than it would take to end homelessness.

The combined cost of housing and transportation continue to outpace income growth in the nation’s largest 25 metropolitan areas, according to a report released today by the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. The authors of the report found that looking at the combined cost of these two indicators is particularly important because transportation-related costs shape the overall affordability of a community, and in turn, affect the ability of families to make ends meet.

From 2000 to 2010, the researchers found that the expenses for housing and transportation rose by $1.75 for each dollar gained in household income, meaning many families are worse off now than at the beginning of the decade. Overall, housing and transportation costs consume nearly half of all household income, forcing many low- and moderate-income families to make tradeoffs between these expense and other expenses like food, child care, and health care. The following policies were among some of the policy tools available that are highlighted in the report: Read More

There’s been much talk of late about North Carolina’s policy environment starting to resemble Mississippi’s. Now, there’s word that we may soon be falling behind Alabama too. Consider the following: Read More

Here’s a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post from Nancy Welsh, founder of Builders of Hope, about addressing the affordable housing crisis in the country. Builders of Hope is based in Raleigh and works in Charlotte, New Orleans and Dallas. Tearing down foreclosed homes has begun in several parts of the country. Builders of Hope makes a solid case for why this is a ridiculous and unnecessary strategy to rebuild the economy.